Gardening Tasks You Should Do Now to Prepare for Spring
Welcome to December, fellow gardeners. For some lucky people living in the deep southeast or southwest, there’s still some sunshine and tomatoes. For the rest of us, it’s a wet town. While now is a good time to finally take a breather after the summer and fall rush, there is still a lot you can do if you want.
If the soil is productive, this is still a great time for bulbs.
Yes, it’s cold, but as long as you can work on the ground, you’re safe. Bulbs love this weather. Once you have constant freezes, this will become much more difficult, so take advantage of the breathtaking sales my favorite light bulb stores are currently having. Eden Brothers, a company I adore for their color options, is offering up to 50% off their fall bulbs. Holland Bulb Farm offers many different discounts and is great for bulk purchases. Breck’s end of season sale features all these new pink and pale yellow daffodils, plus some great deals on onions.
This also means it is not too late to plant garlic, shallots and onions. If your garden center no longer has garlic, many people have success using store-bought garlic, and while it is usually said that you should buy organic garlic for this purpose, my non-organic garlic keeps sprouting in my kitchen. The same goes for shallots. If you can get your hands on onion shoots, buy them. Since they are often sold in sets, check your garden groups – someone always has too many.
Let the rain do its work
Do you know how bad it is to sprout carrots most of the summer? It’s not autumn because the rain does your light work. Toss carrot seeds into the beds just before it rains for a few days, then stand back and watch the seeds sprout. The same goes for radishes, including daikon and onion seeds. Since onion seeds (all types of onions) have a very short lifespan, usually only a year, you can do this too. If they germinate, great, and if not, no loss.
You should also be thinking about cold stratification right now. All those flower seeds that need cold stratification can now be planted outside and can be taken out after the winter is over. You can also just put them in the refrigerator now and take them out in six to eight weeks.
It’s time for the tools
The moment came when I finally put my tools away for the winter, away from the weather. This is also the ideal time to take a closer look at each one and see what might need some attention. Sharpen edges that need it, including chainsaws and other saws. Check hose ends and inspect shovels for rust. Make sure your instruments are clean before storing them. This is when I take the snow shovel and scraper out of storage and carry them to the front door.
Sleepy trees and shrubs
Not all plants go dormant in winter; they tend to do so immediately after the fruiting season. But so many of your trees and shrubs have already overwintered, so it’s time to make that pruning you’ve been putting off. Shrub trimmings will make good kindling this year, and larger tree branches can be cut down and prepared for next winter. Pay attention to limbs that can cause problems in snow and rain, anything that hangs over your house or street, or over your car. Now you can Google how to prune absolutely any plant or tree, and I encourage you to do it with plants that are important to you. How you prune your lilacs can affect fruiting next year.
You may also have more fragile shrubs and young trees that would benefit from covering for the winter, which simply means covering them with burlap, leaves and insulation. Your nursery will know what might require such cover in your yard, but young fruit trees or figs may be helpful if you experience extreme temperatures in the winter. You can purchase burlap from a garden center for this purpose.
Seeds, seeds, glorious seeds
In about six weeks, it will be time to sow seeds for next year. Seed houses are now putting out catalogs, and most places have posted next year’s new varieties online. Place your orders before New Year’s to get the best selection – they’re moving fast these days. If you have empty seed packets from last year, you should have a plan for what you need to order.